The Azzolino family, owners of the restaurant since 1968, announced Wednesday, Feb 7, that the old school Italian spot is no longer for sale. With a quick ownership change, it will remain in business where it’s been for the last 50 years: 517 Castro St.

It’s a pleasant ending to a dramatic saga that began last year when then-owner Tony Azzolino, who took over the restaurant in 1979, surprisingly put the building on the market.

The post spurred a groundswell of community support, which the Azzolino family says helped them decide to keep the place open. Mario Azzolino, Tony Azzolino’s nephew, is the new owner.

“The Castro has been such a large part of the DNA of the city, and I look forward to being able to preserve a little piece of history,” he says. “I love that this place has a story, and I meet people every day who tell me about how it used to be ‘back then.’”

The restaurant will close briefly later this month as Mario updates operations, the family says. The food and aesthetics will remain the same, outside of small tweaks such as adding an Azzolino family sauce to various dishes.

The Sausage Factory opened in 1968 and is named after an actual sausage factory that occupied the Castro Street address until the 1940s. Over five decades, the restaurant became a touchstone in San Francisco’s LGBT community.

For years, residential units above the business have been occupied by the local hub of Radical Faeries, the politically radical movement started by gay men that has millions of members across the country.

According to posts on the Preserving LGBT Historic Sites in California Facebook page, the restaurant was also the setting of many first dates, family gatherings, hangouts for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus in the ’80s, and much more.

The Azzolino family says they hope to keep the restaurant around for another 50 years.